It was the video seen around the world.
It’s been called the Riverboat Rumble, the Montgomery Melee, the Alabama Sweet Tea Party with more fans than Ali vs Frasier I, II and III, Tyson vs. Buster Douglas or Leonard vs. Duran. Unless you live on Mars, much of America witnessed how this fight captivated Blacks and others through social media that generated millions of views.
Black Twitter had a field day with posts featuring details of the event from the 16-year-old dubbed “Black Aquaman” for swimming across the Alabama River to help the Black boat co-captain being attacked by a group of Whites, to memes featuring the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, to the pic of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial photoshopped holding a folding chair like the one used in the fight. The event seemed to be a summer sensation.
“It represented our resistance to the collective trauma that we’ve experienced,” Atlanta psychologist Dr. Mwata Kairi told The Final Call. “I call it Persistent Enslaving Systemic Trauma (PEST). The trauma of the enslavement experience exacerbated by the collective process of the 45th president’s antics, the January 6th phenomena, coming on the heels of George Floyd created a condition by which this element of resistance has risen. We were enamored with the fight back to White racist terrorism and there was a victory in that. There was a cathartic release for Black folks.”
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“It is tied to the perpetual trauma that we’ve experienced, and the trauma response came in the form of fighting that which is coming against us. As a result, we felt the relief. I want to tie that to the idea of the Zulu concept of Ubuntu. The idea of what impacts you impacts me. Some say that: I am because we are. It’s part of an African-centered or Black-centric way of being.
We all are impacted by the same thing. We have this phenomena of cultural trauma that we’ve encountered. That is the persistent slavery, systemic trauma. This cultural trauma has impacted all of us.”
What happened?
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert explained in an August news conference that Riverboat Co-Captain Damien Pickett was attacked by a group of White people who refused to move from a designated parking area. “Mr. Pickett was attacked by several members of the private boat. Several members of the Harriott II (another riverboat) came to Mr. Pickett’s defense, engaging in what we all have seen since on social media.”
In his handwritten deposition to police, Mr. Pickett said he “hung on for dear life” as he was viciously attacked by a group of White boaters who ignored his requests for 45 minutes to move their boat so a dinner cruise vessel could dock. That request was met with swearing and obscene gestures. Next, a White boater lunged at the captain with both hands and knocked him back. That’s when all hell broke loose.
Little did the terrorists know, each “lift every fist and swing” was being recorded by Black people all around the deck. They captured Mr. Pickett’s hat toss. They filmed the Black people running to help from near and far. They captured Reggie Ray, who used a folding chair to fight off the terrorists. They captured the teen swimmer who jumped into the river without a second thought.
Four White people were arrested, charged with multiple counts of third-degree assault and released. Mary Todd, 21; Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, are scheduled to be arraigned on September 1. Mr. Ray turned himself in and was charged with a misdemeanor.
His lawyer is civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who’s representing several people involved in the brawl. Mr. Merritt posted on Instagram, “Mr. Reggie Ray is out. He is in good spirits. He got a speeding ticket on the way home but he was relieved to discover the community showed up for him and others in such a strong way.” A GoFundMe raised close to $300,000 to bail Mr. Ray and pay his legal fees.
Not today!
For centuries, Black people have been taught to fear the White man. When attacked, Black people rarely fought back. Montgomery was the seat of power for Gov. George Wallace. He is famous for blocking the door at the University of Alabama so two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, who were ordered admitted by a federal judge, could not enter.
“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever,” Gov. Wallace said.
That mentality fomented racial terror that, according to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, took the lives of 4,400 people of color known to have been victims of racial terror in the United States. Alabama is responsible for at least 340 such killings.
Countless slave ships docked at that riverside and it is of note that many of Mr. Pickett’s rescue squad came from a vessel called Harriott II. “If you understand the history of Montgomery,” explained on social media by Nikole Hannah-Jones, journalist, author and creator of the 1619 Project, “it gives so much more perspective to this video.”
Fear of White men became ingrained in the Black psyche. When White men burst into the home where 14-year-old Emmett Till was staying, there was very little the others in the home could do. Story after story has been told of how just the presence of the White man caused Black people to tremble, step and fetch it, and scratch where they didn’t itch.
“This was one of those moments akin to boxer Jack Johnson defeating James J. Jeffries. Jack Johnson became a voice for us. Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson joining Major League Baseball, they became victorious for us. Muhammad Ali standing in the face of White racism. These are historical moments,” Dr. Kairi said.
“The fight is one of those psychological releases, where we say we are now fighting back and we can win. That is the excitement of the brawl, the idea that we came together. We did some things that were mostly improbable. We were able to maneuver in the context of chaos and still be victorious. You could clearly see a spiritual energy there that, when Whites tried to attack, Black folks were alerted to respond, to engage in the battle.”
He added, “We are in this moment where there is a turn toward the righteousness. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told us to be on the lookout for this, the 400-year conversation. This is part of that turning point that Blacks are no longer sitting back and taking it. They’re willing to resist at all costs.”
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, taught that Whites have been global peace breakers for the last 6,000 years, destroying the lives of 600 million members of the Black nation since White rule started on the planet.
“When a man has done that kind of evil,” explained Minister Farrakhan, “they are long gone and dead, but they’ve produced offspring, and it doesn’t seem like the offspring are better than those that did the evil because the children are doing the same things as their fathers.”
What’s Next?
Montgomery is also home to the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Mosque No. 101 where Brother Shakir Muhammad serves as student minister. “The fight has caused Black folk in Montgomery to organize and galvanize ourselves to address issues that plague our community,” he told The Final Call. “We are preparing to hold a town hall meeting to organize our people under the program of the 10,000 Fearless. We want them to understand that every idea, every program that we’ve tried has not worked. When all else fails, Islam comes,” said Student Minister Shakir Muhammad.
In 2015 at the 20th anniversary and commemoration of the Million Man March, Minister Farrakhan made a clarion call for 10,000 Fearless men and women to work to make their neighborhoods a clean and decent place to live. The 2015 gathering was themed, “Justice or Else!”
“We want to offer them the program of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad to better situate us and to help better organize us that we may be able to go in our communities and allow this incident to show us that we can stick together. We do have love for each other and we care for each other,” said Student Min. Shakir Muhammad.
Montgomery mayoral and city council candidates are using the brawl in many of their campaign speeches. “I am with some people to ensure that we hold our mayor and council, accountable. We want to ensure the proper charges are brought against these White domestic terrorists.
The mayor (Steven Reed) is saying he doesn’t know if it was a hate crime. However, if it were all Black men jumping on a White person, I know it would’ve been called a hate crime,” community activist Karen Jones told The Final Call.
“We have law ordinances on the books and state laws. I’m bringing awareness to the community about the history of that river. We offer on the second Saturday of each month, libations to commemorate our enslaved ancestors that got off the boat right there to be sold. The street is where they used to auction off our enslaved ancestors each morning.
I want people to understand there is a boat named after Harriet Tubman. We have to educate our community on what’s actually happening around here from the mayoral and council elections to the charges facing the White terrorists.” It was the video seen around the world.
It’s been called the Riverboat Rumble, the Montgomery Melee, the Alabama Sweet Tea Party with more fans than Ali vs Frasier I, II and III, Tyson vs. Buster Douglas or Leonard vs. Duran. Unless you live on Mars, much of America witnessed how this fight captivated Blacks and others through social media that generated millions of views.
Black Twitter had a field day with posts featuring details of the event from the 16-year-old dubbed “Black Aquaman” for swimming across the Alabama River to help the Black boat co-captain being attacked by a group of Whites, to memes featuring the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, to the pic of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial photoshopped holding a folding chair like the one used in the fight. The event seemed to be a summer sensation.
“It represented our resistance to the collective trauma that we’ve experienced,” Atlanta psychologist Dr. Mwata Kairi told The Final Call. “I call it Persistent Enslaving Systemic Trauma (PEST). The trauma of the enslavement experience exacerbated by the collective process of the 45th president’s antics, the January 6th phenomena, coming on the heels of George Floyd created a condition by which this element of resistance has risen. We were enamored with the fight back to White racist terrorism and there was a victory in that. There was a cathartic release for Black folks.”
“It is tied to the perpetual trauma that we’ve experienced, and the trauma response came in the form of fighting that which is coming against us. As a result, we felt the relief. I want to tie that to the idea of the Zulu concept of Ubuntu. The idea of what impacts you impacts me. Some say that: I am because we are.
It’s part of an African-centered or Black-centric way of being. We all are impacted by the same thing. We have this phenomena of cultural trauma that we’ve encountered. That is the persistent slavery, systemic trauma. This cultural trauma has impacted all of us.”
What happened?
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert explained in an August news conference that Riverboat Co-Captain Damien Pickett was attacked by a group of White people who refused to move from a designated parking area. “Mr. Pickett was attacked by several members of the private boat. Several members of the Harriott II (another riverboat) came to Mr. Pickett’s defense, engaging in what we all have seen since on social media.”
In his handwritten deposition to police, Mr. Pickett said he “hung on for dear life” as he was viciously attacked by a group of White boaters who ignored his requests for 45 minutes to move their boat so a dinner cruise vessel could dock. That request was met with swearing and obscene gestures. Next, a White boater lunged at the captain with both hands and knocked him back. That’s when all hell broke loose.
Little did the terrorists know, each “lift every fist and swing” was being recorded by Black people all around the deck. They captured Mr. Pickett’s hat toss. They filmed the Black people running to help from near and far. They captured Reggie Ray, who used a folding chair to fight off the terrorists. They captured the teen swimmer who jumped into the river without a second thought.
Four White people were arrested, charged with multiple counts of third-degree assault and released. Mary Todd, 21; Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, are scheduled to be arraigned on September 1. Mr. Ray turned himself in and was charged with a misdemeanor.
His lawyer is civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who’s representing several people involved in the brawl. Mr. Merritt posted on Instagram, “Mr. Reggie Ray is out. He is in good spirits. He got a speeding ticket on the way home but he was relieved to discover the community showed up for him and others in such a strong way.” A GoFundMe raised close to $300,000 to bail Mr. Ray and pay his legal fees.
Not today!
For centuries, Black people have been taught to fear the White man. When attacked, Black people rarely fought back. Montgomery was the seat of power for Gov. George Wallace. He is famous for blocking the door at the University of Alabama so two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, who were ordered admitted by a federal judge, could not enter.
“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever,” Gov. Wallace said.
That mentality fomented racial terror that, according to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, took the lives of 4,400 people of color known to have been victims of racial terror in the United States. Alabama is responsible for at least 340 such killings.
Countless slave ships docked at that riverside and it is of note that many of Mr. Pickett’s rescue squad came from a vessel called Harriott II. “If you understand the history of Montgomery,” explained on social media by Nikole Hannah-Jones, journalist, author and creator of the 1619 Project, “it gives so much more perspective to this video.”
Fear of White men became ingrained in the Black psyche. When White men burst into the home where 14-year-old Emmett Till was staying, there was very little the others in the home could do. Story after story has been told of how just the presence of the White man caused Black people to tremble, step and fetch it, and scratch where they didn’t itch.
“This was one of those moments akin to boxer Jack Johnson defeating James J. Jeffries. Jack Johnson became a voice for us. Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson joining Major League Baseball, they became victorious for us. Muhammad Ali standing in the face of White racism. These are historical moments,” Dr. Kairi said.
“The fight is one of those psychological releases, where we say we are now fighting back and we can win. That is the excitement of the brawl, the idea that we came together. We did some things that were mostly improbable. We were able to maneuver in the context of chaos and still be victorious. You could clearly see a spiritual energy there that, when Whites tried to attack, Black folks were alerted to respond, to engage in the battle.”
He added, “We are in this moment where there is a turn toward the righteousness. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told us to be on the lookout for this, the 400-year conversation. This is part of that turning point that Blacks are no longer sitting back and taking it. They’re willing to resist at all costs.”
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, taught that Whites have been global peace breakers for the last 6,000 years, destroying the lives of 600 million members of the Black nation since White rule started on the planet.
“When a man has done that kind of evil,” explained Minister Farrakhan, “they are long gone and dead, but they’ve produced offspring, and it doesn’t seem like the offspring are better than those that did the evil because the children are doing the same things as their fathers.”
What’s Next?
Montgomery is also home to the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Mosque No. 101 where Brother Shakir Muhammad serves as student minister. “The fight has caused Black folk in Montgomery to organize and galvanize ourselves to address issues that plague our community,” he told The Final Call. “We are preparing to hold a town hall meeting to organize our people under the program of the 10,000 Fearless. We want them to understand that every idea, every program that we’ve tried has not worked. When all else fails, Islam comes,” said Student Minister Shakir Muhammad.
In 2015 at the 20th anniversary and commemoration of the Million Man March, Minister Farrakhan made a clarion call for 10,000 Fearless men and women to work to make their neighborhoods a clean and decent place to live. The 2015 gathering was themed, “Justice or Else!”
“We want to offer them the program of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad to better situate us and to help better organize us that we may be able to go in our communities and allow this incident to show us that we can stick together. We do have love for each other and we care for each other,” said Student Min. Shakir Muhammad.
Montgomery mayoral and city council candidates are using the brawl in many of their campaign speeches. “I am with some people to ensure that we hold our mayor and council, accountable. We want to ensure the proper charges are brought against these White domestic terrorists. The mayor (Steven Reed) is saying he doesn’t know if it was a hate crime. However, if it were all Black men jumping on a White person, I know it would’ve been called a hate crime,” community activist Karen Jones told The Final Call.
“We have law ordinances on the books and state laws. I’m bringing awareness to the community about the history of that river. We offer on the second Saturday of each month, libations to commemorate our enslaved ancestors that got off the boat right there to be sold. The street is where they used to auction off our enslaved ancestors each morning. I want people to understand there is a boat named after Harriet Tubman. We have to educate our community on what’s actually happening around here from the mayoral and council elections to the charges facing the White terrorists.”
